Thanks to the always-on-top-of-things VentureAdlaxre, we have our first review of Cranky Ladies of History (due out March 8)! Absolutely delighted to see she loved it, with a comprehensive five-star review! Among other things, she says of various pieces: “…a gentle and beautiful piece of writing…”, “…rich in culture and a joy to read…”, “…a light touch yet with a depth of thought…”.

A short review of Jo Anderton’s Guardian by reader John on Goodreads has this great line: This is sci-fi done right.

Alex Pierce reviews One Small Step, saying: …a who’s who of established and emerging Australian writers, too, which is a total delight.

Focus 2013: highlights of Australian short fiction hits the virtual shelves on October 1, 2014. The second of an annual series, Focus 2013 collects an elite selection of work which has received acclaim via national and international Awards shortlisting.

Focus 2013: highlights of Australian short fiction features work by…

D.K. Mok – “Morning Star”

Juliet Marillier – “By Bone-Light”

Joanne Anderton – “Mah Song”

Thoraiya Dyer – “Seven Days in Paris”

Tansy Rayner Roberts – “Cold White Daughter”

C.S. McMullen – “The Nest”

Cat Sparks – “Scarp”

Kaaron Warren – “Air, Water and the Grove”

Kirstyn McDermott – “The Home for Broken Dolls”

Kathleen Jennings – Illustrations and cover art

The book is officially on sale on October 1, and is currently available for pre-order at Amazon, Kobo and Smashwords for US$4.99.

We woke up this morning (in Australia) to the very exciting news that DK Mok’s wonderful story “Morning Star” from One Small Step has been shortlisted for the Washington Science Fiction Association’s Small Press Award! This is one of my absolute favourite awards, and I’m delighted to see DK’s story recognised, and amid fantastic company! FableCroft author David McDonald is also shortlisted, alongside another Aussie Sean McMullen — yay Aussies!

In other excitement, Tansy Rayner Roberts’ essay collection Pratchett’s Women is having a good week – first it appeared on the MetaFilter site amid some fantastic discussion, and then it got a mention at BoingBoing! This makes us very happy

Tsana at Tsana Reads and Reviews has lovely things to say about Guardian by Jo Anderton, including: I highly recommend it to fans of technological fantasy or just fantasy which differs from the mainstream. The worldbuilding is very original and one of the real strengths of the series. The magic is very structured; leading some to call the series science fiction. In that light, fans of slipstream and genre-bending fiction should find much to like here.

We’re counting down to the release of Phantazein, a new anthology of fantastical short stories (and poems), out in early October. We are launching the book in style at Conflux, the annual Canberra speculative fiction convention, 5.00pm Saturday 4 October. Come along if you can! What is Phantazein? Well, if you were one of those readers who enjoyed To Spin a Darker Stair but bemoaned the fact it was too short, Phantazein is TOTALLY the book for you!

Speaking of Conflux, FableCroft is hosting a pitching session for novels (also on Saturday, midday!) – we aren’t open to submissions, so it’s you’re only chance to hit us with your best book!

We really appreciate ratings and reviews on Goodreads and Amazon – a big thanks to our wonderful readers who share the love!

Disclaimer: I’ve made the discounts on Smashwords only for the top four items (all formats available here!), but these will probably filter through to Amazon etc via price matching, if that’s your preference. “Flower and Weed” and “Sanction” are only available on Amazon, and the free pricing will kick in tomorrow for five days!

It’s been a busy busy couple of weeks for interviews, with the 2014 Australian Spec Fic Snapshot taking place. Many of FableCroft’s creators have been snapshot already, and it’s been great reading the interviews from all facets of the Aussie Spec Fic scene! I particularly enjoy seeing what people are working on, and what they’ve been reading.

Alex Stephenson has written a fantastic review of Guardian in Aurealis #72 – among other things, Alex says:

Guardian is a tremendously satisfying conclusion to an already celebrated series.

…Anderton is to be commended for her ability to create such rich and original settings.

A fitting end, or entry, to the trilogy, Guardian is as excellent as Anderton’s fans deserve. It is a pleasure to read modern science fiction driven by a female lead as strong and nuanced as Tanyana.

Thanks Alex! You can read the whole review (and new fiction and other things as well!) in the issue, just $2.99 at Smashwords.

Another review of Jo’s Veiled World books comes from Paul Bonamy on Goodreads, who calls them: “…an excellent series, and well worth reading.”

Jason Franks has interviewed Dirk Flinthart over at his blog, talking a lot about Path of Night and what’s coming up next. Don’t forget that while you wait for book 2 in the series, “Sanction”, a short story set after the events of Path of Night, is available super cheap from Amazon!

Did we mention that The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories won Best Collection at the Australian Shadows Awards last month? It DID! Nice double with the Aurealis Award – congratulations Jo!

Speaking of The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories Dave Versace reviewed the book on Amazon, saying it’s full of, “Beautiful, dark stories of humanity on the fringes of normality or the verge of extinction.” Much appreciated Dave!

It occurred to me recently, that given we have Jo Anderton’s launch next weekend, I probably should (finally) post about the OTHER book celebrations we’ve had recently. Well, in the past year. Hmmm, yes, it HAS been a busy 12 months! (more photos of events over at the FableCroft Facebook page)

First off the rank (gosh, was it really in APRIL last year?!) was the dual launch for The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories by Joanne Anderton and One Small Step, an anthology of discoveries at Conflux, the 2013 Natcon in Canberra in October. We had a great spot in the thoroughfare, and a good time slot too, and it was lovely to see so many con-goers in attendance. Kaaron Warren acted as launcher (for both our books AND Thoraiya Dyer’s Twelfth Planet Press Twelve Planets Collection Asymmetry!), and Joanne, Thoraiya and I said a few words too. Lots of fun!

So we had an intimate but fun launch for Dirk Flinthart’s debut novel, Path of Night, way back in November 2013. It’s the first book of ours that has been launched by the local mayor, which was exciting, and the author and cover designer both attended in fine style. Was lovely to meet some of the good people of Scottsdale, and we had a great evening.

Earlier this year, we had a FableCroft Book Party, hosted by the great folks at The Hobart Bookshop. The wonderful Lian Tanner said lovely things about Ink Black Magic and Path of Night, and Tansy and Dirk both got to read some of their novels too. Was a good turnout, particularly for the Sunday afternoon of the long weekend, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

Photo by Helen Merrick

Just a few weeks ago (okay, okay, it was nearly two months – goodness me, the year is flying!) we celebrated two wins at the Aurealis Awards, with The Bone Chime Song taking out Best Collection and One Small Step sharing the glory with The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror 2012 in the Best Anthology category. With several other FableCroft works on the shortlists, including Path of Night and Ink Black Magic, we had a brilliant night, and enjoyed being able to spend the evening with the best and brightest of Australian spec fic.

Now we’re gearing up for next weekend’s celebration of Jo’s new book Guardian, and I’m still a bit boggled that it’s been over a year since the launch of The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories! Hopefully it won’t take me so long to blog about the fun we have there… All attendees of Continuum X are welcome to join us for the launch, 4pm on Saturday 7 June. Hope to see you there!

Join the FableCroft Publishing team at Continuum X in Melbourne to launch Jo Anderton‘s new Veiled Worlds novel, GUARDIAN. Tansy Rayner Roberts will officiate proceedings, Jo will be there to sign books, and there will be prizes, treats and special launch prices available!

We’ll be in “The Big Top” following the Fan Fund Auction and would love to see you there – let us know you’ll be coming by joining the Facebook event page or by commenting below.

FableCroft will have a presence in the Dealer Room most of Saturday and Sunday of the convention, with Slow Glass Books stocking our publications on Friday and Monday – come say hi!

I think we’re having way too much fun with this. Not only have we offered a bunch of free fiction to celebrate our Ditmar shortlistings, but now we’re discounting books!

For the month of May, the ebooks of Ink Black Magic by Tansy Rayner Roberts and The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories by Joanne Anderton are HALF PRICE – that’s less than three dollars each! This special is currently live on Smashwords and Kobo, and Amazon will no doubt follow real soon.